The Best Fluffy Pancakes recipe you will fall in love with. Full of tips and tricks to help you make the best pancakes.
Are Water Chestnuts Keto?
Water chestnuts may be delicious, but the question remains, are water chestnuts keto friendly?
Regardless of whether you’re on a keto diet, or are running a keto food service for your client, knowing about what ingredients could interrupt your ketosis is key!
Choosing the perfect keto diet plan is no easy task. Sometimes, it might mean giving up on some of your favorite foods. Negligence isn't an option in keto. After all, you're sacrificing too much, to begin with.
Water chestnut lover or not, scroll through this article to get your hands on valuable information!
Table of Contents
What are Water Chestnuts?
You hear the words water chestnuts, and the first image that appears is that of a nut. But are water chestnuts nuts?
Despite the name, water chestnuts are not nuts at all. They’re a vegetable that tend to grow effectively in shallow bodies of water. These may include marshes, paddy fields, and even lakes that are shallow.
Water chestnuts are also named “Singhara.” They belong to the low-calorie, non-starchy fruit group. The fruit has a zero-fat composition that may help you if you want to lose weight. They grow in marshes, mud, and underwater and resemble grass-like plants.
Are Water Chestnuts Keto Friendly?
If you love to eat water chestnuts, here's some bad news.
Water chestnuts aren’t keto friendly. It’s because they contain a high level of carbs and not enough fat. The nutritional composition totally against the macronutrients you need on a keto diet, i.e., your food should be low in carbohydrates and high in fats.
In ketosis, your body requires energy from fats, so your diet must have healthy fat sources. In keto, your diet should have 5 to 10 percent carbohydrates and 70 percent fats. On the contrary, water chestnuts have 24.2 grams of net carbohydrates per 1 cup of serving and 0.1 grams of fats.
Benefits of Water Chestnuts:
If you are a person who is conscious about your health, then here’s some good news. Water chestnuts have various health benefits due to several antioxidants present in them. Antioxidants help lower the risk of many chronic diseases and provide other health benefits like cancer prevention, improved blood pressure, digestive health, weight loss, nutrition, etc.
- Cancer Prevention:
Water chestnuts have several antioxidants that lower the risk of developing cancer cells.
Scientific studies prove that antioxidants can slow the growth of cancerous cells. So, you can include water chestnuts in your diet if you’re not maintaining a keto diet and also if you want to enjoy a long healthy life.
- Improved Blood Pressure:
If you’re suffering from a high blood pressure disease and want to get rid of it, give a chance to water chestnuts. They can help with high blood pressure.
Water chestnuts have potassium, which helps lower the risk of high blood pressure. This isn’t just something that we’re throwing in the air. Rather it is a scientifically proven statement. Studies show that people consuming more potassium have a lower risk of high blood pressure. So, eat water chestnuts and get rid of high blood pressure.
- Digestive Health:
Water chestnuts enhance the efficiency of your digestive system. It is because water chestnuts are high in fiber.
Do you know about fiber? Fiber is best known for its ability to relieve or prevent constipation. Food can easily pass through the large intestine due to fiber. Fiber absorbs water, so stools become softened, and thus they pass more smoothly.
- Weight Loss
If you’re following a weight loss plan, you may benefit from water chestnuts because they have low-calorie content. It’s a diet that suppresses hunger without increasing your calories.
- Nutrition:
If you’re looking for a nutritious diet, what else are you waiting for? You eat water chestnuts and get the nutrition. Water chestnuts are nutrition rich because they are low in calories and high in fiber. They contain healthy antioxidants and several vitamins. Also, they contain no fat.
Source of Nutrition:
Water chestnuts are a good source of:
- Copper
- Riboflavin
- Manganese
- Vitamin B6
- Potassium
Nutrients Per Serving:
Water chestnuts contain the following composition of nutrients per half cup of serving (100 grams). Let us look, and then you can include them in your diet accordingly after calculating nutrients.
| Calories | 45 calories |
| Proteins | 1 gram |
| Fat | 0 grams |
| Carbohydrates | 10 grams |
| Fiber | 3 grams |
| Sugar | 2 grams |
Water Chestnuts Alternatives:
Water chestnuts taste very delicious. If you add them to any dish, they add flavor to the food, make them crispier and crunchier and leave you licking your fingers.
However, if you are maintaining a keto and can't add water chestnuts to your diet, will you skip this ingredient in the recipe? Or is there any other way to deal with such a problem?
Wait, no need to worry! To deal with such a situation, we have compiled a list of the ingredient’s alternatives to water chestnuts. Some of them are Daikon Radishes, Jicama, Bamboo Shoots, etc.
Let us discuss a few of them one by one.
- Daikon Radishes:
Daikon Radish is an alternative to a water chestnut. It’s a highly versatile keto-friendly ingredient.
It also has a mild taste, just like water chestnuts. Its taste is not as sweet as water chestnuts but possesses a unique flavor and crunch.
- Jicama:
Jicama is another alternative to water chestnuts. It’s a watery vegetable, just like water chestnuts.
It’s crispy and crunchy, so you can also eat it raw. Jicama is a keto-friendly vegetable. It has 4 grams of net carbohydrates per serving of 100 grams. Jicama has various nutrients like folate, iron, magnesium, manganese, potassium, vitamin C, etc. It is also rich in fiber.
- Bamboo Shoots:
Bamboo shoots are another substitute for water chestnuts. They’re watery vegetables, just like water chestnuts. They also have a mild taste. Bamboo Shoots are a keto-friendly vegetable. They’ve 3 grams of net carbohydrates per serving of 100 grams.
Wrapping Up
Hopefully, now you know are water chestnuts keto-friendly or not. Water chestnuts could be a healthy choice but not a safe choice for the keto clan. While striving for weight loss, don't make mistakes that would create trouble in the future. Keto is about discipline and dedication. Staying away from water chestnuts will eventually help you in the longer run. You can always add chestnuts to your diet after Keto since it's a healthy choice. Your body needs antioxidants, potassium, vitamin B6, copper, and manganese. Obtain this nutrition from water chestnuts. Happy eating.
Clink on one of the links below to find out more about other keto friendly foods:
